2018 Weekly Devotional - Week 32
Week 32
Psalm 107:1-9 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.[a] 4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle. 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, 9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.”
My first job working for someone other than my dad was hauling hay. I worked for a man named Bob Tatum who supplied the truck and trailer, along with Billy Munich, I supplied the labor. We worked six days a week when school let out. Those long, hot, days of summer were often miserable. The hay was dusty, the heat in the barn was stifling, and while in the field you are praying for a cloud to give you a respite from the sun, even if it was fleeting. When we unloaded the trailer at the barn we always took a short water break where along with getting a drink we would douse our head, neck, and wrists to cool down. I don’t ever remember water tasting so good or feeling so good as it did during those dog days of summer. When I got home at night I would often strip off and go for a dip in the cool waters of the horse trough before coming in and bathing. Once clean, I would sit down to a meal and eat until I was as full as a tick! A meal is always more appreciated after a hard days work. As I reflect on those days I remember how thankful I was to have both my thirst and my hunger satisfied.
Our passage this week exhorts us to give thanks to God for his steadfast love and his wondrous works. May I suggest that it is God’s steadfast love and wondrous works that satisfy the longing soul and the hungry soul. Notice that the soul is addressed here. What our souls truly long for is far beyond the merely existential wants of physical desire. The longing soul craves a deep love that is not fleeting but steadfast, unwavering, demonstrable. For a stirring account of God’s actions based on his steadfast love, read Psalm 136. The hungry soul is satisfied by the wondrous works of God. When our souls are parched and our spiritual hunger is unabated, God hears our cries and delivers us from our distress. Ravi Zacharias writes in Recapture the Wonder, “Wonder is that possession of the mind that enchants the emotions, while never surrendering reason.” He continues by saying, “In short, wonder is captured in one word - worship. When we have learned what worship is, we have experienced what wonder is.” Where do we see God’s wondrous work most clearly displayed? What activity of God enchants the emotions and stirs our reason? The cross of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ that manifests God’s steadfast love. It is Jesus Christ that is God’s wondrous work to the children of man. It is Christ that satisfies the longing and hungry soul. The living water and true bread from heaven far surpasses anything this world offers in the way of refreshment and nourishment.
In Christ,
John